How Tom Kim, RSM Birdies Fore Love are rebuilding hope in Lahaina

The van that was parked outside the building that houses the Boys & Girls Club of Maui – Lahaina was reduced to a pile of molten metal and ash by the wildfires that ravaged that Hawaiian community on the northwest coast of Maui last August. It was a total loss.

The building remained standing, although extensively damaged by smoke and other toxins. Windows and solar panels were broken. A telephone pole had crashed into the roof. The air conditioning system was unsafe and useless. All the games, art, school supplies and athletic equipment for the kids had been destroyed.

But the building was still standing.

T.J. Daya has worked with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui for the last seven years. When things were safe, several weeks later, he finally was able to go into the Lahaina clubhouse. He was “shocked” by what he saw.

Daya had no doubt, though, that they could – and would – rebuild. It was too important for the "keiki," which is the Hawaiian word for "children," that the Boys & Girls Clubs serve.

“If anyone wants to learn the true meaning of aloha, you walk into that clubhouse,” Daya says, thinking about better days. “I used to say those kids will teach you what aloha is. They'll teach you about the community. They'll teach you about the people. I've learned some of my greatest life lessons working in that clubhouse directly with the youth.

“It is a special place. All of our clubhouses are very special … The kids would often say that this is my second home. And it just has that feeling in there. I don't know what it is about that building. I don't know if it's all the love that the staff put in, the security it's provided the kids, the opportunities it's provided, but that clubhouse has a special feeling there. There's a reason why it's still standing.”

That’s why the $45,000 donation that Tom Kim made through last fall’s RSM Birdies Fore Love competition was so important. The money has helped refurbish the clubhouse, which hopefully will reopen before the end of this year, as well as fund other vital wildfire relief programs run by the Boys & Girls Club.

Daya said it felt like his heart was being “hugged” when he found out that the three-time PGA TOUR winner had designated the Boys & Girls Clubs in Maui for the donation.

Lahaina, a whaling port that was once graced by Hawaiian kings and queens, is about nine miles southwest of Kapalua, a resort with stunning ocean views that hosts The Sentry, the TOUR’s season-opening Signature Event, each January. The tournament helped connect the TOUR to the Boys & Girls Club, and Daya is very grateful for the support.

“Lahaina is a tight community. Maui's a tight community,” Daya says. “And then we had the PGA TOUR (and) Tom Kim come around and all of our other donors just wrap around us. One big hug. We got you. We’re a part of this with you.

“I just remember being like, wow, amazed and just like, oh my gosh, what a blessing. And this donation supports, it allows us to do the work we do.”

Kim said he fell in love with Maui and Lahaina the first time he played in The Sentry after winning the 2022 Wyndham Championship. The 22-year-old, who tied for fifth that year, says the opportunity to have an impact through the RSM Birdies Fore Love program is “unbelievable.”

“It puts things a lot of in perspective,” Kim says. "I'm just so grateful to just play a small role in people's hearts. I am playing golf and I'm living my dream on the PGA TOUR and to be able to just help people while doing it, I can't ask for anymore.”

Andy Bosman, the chief marketing officer with RSM US LLP, says stewardship and giving back have been a core part of the company’s DNA since it was founded in 1926.

“RSM Birdies Fore Love has been such an amazing way to continue that tradition of making a difference in our communities,” Bosman said. “We are thrilled to be able to support such deserving organizations like Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui through RSM Birdies Fore Love.”

And the need is great. Fourteen months after the disaster, the Lahaina community is still recovering from the wildfires that killed more than 100 people, destroyed over 2,000 buildings and caused nearly $6 billion in damages.

Within a week after the wildfires, the Boys & Girls Club staff was serving kids from Lahaina, many of whom had lost their homes, at Napili Park. Later, that outreach moved to a local hotel and eventually to Lahaina Intermediate School, where it now operates in portable classrooms after school until 7 p.m., Monday-Friday.

There kids can participate in programs promoting character, citizenship and healthy lifestyles, as well as sports, fitness activities and even workforce development like resume building and financial literacy. Snacks are provided after school as well, thanks to a partnership with the Maui Food Bank

The non-profit received a grant from the Hawaii Community Foundation to replace its van. In addition, the Boys & Girls Clubs received more than $1 million in monetary gifts like the one Kim made and tangible things like backpacks, school supplies, hygiene items, underwear, shoes and clothing – all of which is going back to the community.

Thanks to those donations, grants of $250 per child were quickly distributed to families in need with supplies available at no charge at the Boys & Girls Club’s One Stop Resource Center. A more recent program involved gift cards for groceries to more than 200 families who still needed assistance after leaving housing provided by FEMA and the Red Cross.

The Boys & Girls Club was also able to provide scholarship assistance to graduating seniors. In addition, more than $120,000 in grants were distributed to athletic teams, cheerleading squads, high school art classes and other groups through the Pay It Forward campaign.

“One of the things that our CEOs always says is that this is a long-term rebuilding, that there are needs of the community that are going to be there for years to come,” says Susan Ellingwood, the director of finance for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui. “So, we are trying to be very aware of what the changing needs are in the community and responding as best we can to the families and children because that is our focus and that's our mission.”

Daya says he has a hundred stories about the impact the work of the Boys & Girls Clubs has had in Lahaina. Each has touched him but perhaps none more than the kid he met at Napili Park whose family had lost everything. The child told Daya that they really missed being able to play the piano.

“This going to bring tears to my eyes,” he says. “I called our CEO and I said we need a keyboard. It's easy to do sports outside. It's easy to do arts and crafts. But we were setting up a keyboard in Napili Park and that's due to the gracious donors and supporters that allowed us to do that.

“So, when I say Boys $ Girls Club does whatever it takes – I’ve got to say I am humbled, honored to work along such caring people that showed up despite challenges they were going through during this time.

"And we wouldn't be able to do it without donors, supporters like Tom Kim and the PGA TOUR. We wouldn't be able to continue services and provide a safe, fun and positive place for the kids.”